The Chinese military embarked on three sets of simultaneous maritime exercises this week just days after the United States and Japan held a massive joint naval exercise in the western Pacific.
Report informs, citing South China Morning Post, that in the East China Sea, China’s Eastern Theatre Command carried out combat exercises to improve air defences and manoeuvrability and put main guns to the live-fire test, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
The drill involved three destroyers including the Type 052D Xiamen, which is much more advanced than its predecessors.
Meanwhile in the South China Sea, the Southern Theatre Command deployed the Type 903 Weishanhu supply ship and the hospital ship Youai to test their ability to work together in combat conditions, carrying out search and rescue, resupply and live-fire drills.
Also on Wednesday, the Northern Theatre Command held a major rescue exercise in the Yellow Sea, including a search and rescue operation involving a burning vessel.
The drills came two days after the US and Japan ended their five-day Noble Fusion 2022.
The report said it was the biggest exercise of its kind since “two US amphibious ready groups and two Marine expeditionary units combined in the Indo-Pacific region in 2018”.
“The training included air-to-ground strikes by aircraft, air-to-air refuelling, raids at sea and on shore, along with expeditionary advanced base operations, a relatively new Marine fighting doctrine that calls for forward bases dispersed across small islands,” the report said.
US commander Rear Admiral Chris Engdahl was quoted as saying the exercise was not aimed at a specific adversary but meant to show the “ability to mass forces and move quickly as well as strengthen partnerships”.
“It’s a message to our allies; it’s a message to the other nations that are in the Indo-Pacific,” Engdahl was quoted as saying. “This is a force that can support you and maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
Beijing-based military expert Zhou Chenming said the naval drills were to test strength and readiness.
